Breckenridge Brewing spoofs megabrewers in new TV ads...again

Breckenridge Brewing is hitting the airwaves with a TV campaign spoofing the big boys of the industry and the gimmicks that they use to sell beer.

The four Truth in Beervertising ads feature Breckenridge head brewer Bob Harrington delivering one-liners in a deadpan voice that skewers the cold-indicator systems used by both MillerCoors and Anheuser Busch, as well as wide-mouth bottle bottles, triple-hopping and the Vortex swirly-necked bottle.

The spots will air during morning and evening local Fox news broadcasts; the station co-sponsors a home-brewing contest with Breckenridge every year. They were produced by Cultivator Advertising & Design and cost less than $10,000 to make. "It's a partnership that both Fox and Breckenridge really enjoy," Usry says. "We knew we'd get a lot of play on the Internet - in fact, they'll probably get more play from that than from people watching TV." (See them all here.)

Breckenridge first ran a TV ad in late 2009 that made fun of Coors's well-known ads showing Pete Coors "somewhere near Golden, Colorado," along with the brewery's claims that it uses pure Rocky Mountain spring water.

Beginning with the tagline, "Somewhere near Breckenridge, Colorado," the Breckenridge ad asked, "Do you know what bears do in here?" The campaign got national attention.

"It's all in good, clean fun," says Breckenridge co-owner Todd Usry, who notes that MillerCoors distributes his beer in the Denver area. "They are big brothers to us, and we are poking fun in a craft brewers way. We told them about it before we did it, but I haven't heard anything back from them. We didn't get a lot of response last time. Hopefully, they appreciate them for what they are."